When to stop swaddling? Do i need to 'wean' him off it?

[MrsBick]

Hi there,
My Lo is 7mths old and we still swaddle him.
Mainly because he is such a fidgit and will just wriggle round his cot rather than go to sleep if he is in a grobag.
He sleeps very well, both at night and during the day.
I'm just wondering when I should stop swaddling him and if I should wean him off it?
Any ideas?

Do you swaddle him completely, meaning with his arms in too? Or swaddle him from chest downwards? I swaddled my dd but left her arms free and then stopped this when she was about 6 months old I think. I put her in a grobag then and left her to work out what to do with herself in her cot!

I think from 7 months, he should perhaps be allowed to shuffle around the cot, he will fall asleep when he wants.

Especially as the weather is (supposedly) warmer perhaps it would be more comfortable to be put ina summer grobag?

Does that sound reasonable to you?

Yes that sounds great. I swaddle him completely at the moment.
I have tried letting his arms out but he won't sleep- he just tries to move round his cot then gets really stressed and starts crying because he gets overtired.
I try turning him back over and saying 'sleep time now' but before I'm even out the room, he is wriggling back up the cot and talking to himself.
Do you think PU/PD would work?

PU/PD ?? Can you explain, I've never heard of that!

mrs bick i am so glad you posted this. dd is coming up to four months and it seems strange to be swaddling such a big baby. we only started a couple of months ago - like your ds, she gets v agitated and doesnt sleep great when she can flail her arms around. the main thing i have noticed is less the getting to sleep, and more the staying asleep where swaddling makes a difference. she is terrible at bashing her face and head with her hands and has even burst blood vessels a couple of times in her eyes . v keen to hear other peoples' opinions. dd also goes to sleep with a dummy, and while she's swaddled, she's never going to learn how to use her own hands to suck on as comfort. wondered whether i should cope with the lost sleep as she tries to find her mouth and misses so that in the end whe gets better at it!

Pick-up put-down? I'm guessing.

My dd is nearly 9mo and is crawling. She's just learned to sit up from lying down (we put her down on her tummy) and has been doing it compulsively. I had to literally pin her down until she relaxed and fell asleep. After a few days she stopped doing it.

What I'm saying, MrsBick, is when you decide to stop swaddling do whatever you need to do to help your ds go to sleep - it won't take long for him to adjust.

If he's happy being swaddled, why do you want to stop?

Firstly I swaddled completely until about 3 months, then swaddled her, starting just under the armpits so she learned to sleep with free arms. then I put her in a grobag around 6 months. Yes,she flailed about but isn't that the way babies get themselves to sleep? They mess around, cry a bit, fidget constantly, and look like they'll NEVER go to sleep, but then they do.

OK, if my dd had cried on and on, then I would have comforted her, but NEVER pick her up! She would never have learned that bedtime is time to get herself to sleep.

If you start picking up and puttng down, then that sets the pattern, and you could end up doing that for a long long time....

Anyway that's what I did. I know that all babies find their own way, and parents have their own methods, but I hope that gives you food for thought.

And one more thing, is your ds room really dark? Black out blind etc? I found that helps sleep enormously.

Actually that's a good point Juule - surely when the lo is too advanced for swaddling, he will find a way of getting himself out of it, or yell the place down to tell you that he needs his hands please! But he will definietely reach a stage where he will take ages to go to sleep because he will be all over the cot, chat, play,fidget etc. As long as he is happy!

he will stop when he is ready. Mine only stopped at around that age because we went on holiday where it was really hot and they jsut got too uncomfortable. It isn't going to do him any harm. I have heard of toddlers still lovign being swaddled!

If its not broken, don't fix it.

Perhaps a light cotton sheet in the warm weather, but if he's happy and not wriggling out of it or struggling to release himself I don't think there's a problem here.

I pretty much did the same as twoisplenty, but mine would struggle to free their arms.

He's got a really light cotton one and he seems to like it- we just got in about half an hour ago and it was time for his nap, i picked up his swaddle robe and he sstarted laughing. asleep within about 90 seconds.

he gets out of it during the night which is fine, i leave it unless he can't settle himself again but usually he does.

Like the advice of if it's not broken, don't fix it. Just felt , like Tyaca, that it's a bit wierd swaddling him as he gets bigger, but i do feel better about it now.

I suppose i could keep using it until he doesn't want it anymore?

Thanks for all you advice everyone!

DS was swaddled until he was 11mo. I only stopped because he was spending more effort on getting free, than going to sleep!

When we used it, it was a great sleep cue and I will do it again with number 2 when he comes along.

As someone said, if it aint broke, don't fix it

my fear is only that i thought swaddling was to make newborns feel secure, not as a mass produced straightjacket to be used to pin a lo's arms down as tight as poss. dd will get herself out quite a bit, but never ever sleeps again after. last night i rushed in to her cries to find she had one finger out... was sucking it and crying... then grinning whence her mum appeared